Kingdom of Zimbabwe

The Kingdom of Zimbabwe, also known as Great Zimbabwe, was a sub-Saharan African kingdom located in modern-day Zimbabwe, with Great Zimbabwe serivng as its capital. It was founded after the fall of the Kingdom of Mapungubwe in 1220, and it was known for its stone architecture and for its rigid, three-tiered class structure. The kingdom controlled the ivory and gold trade in southeastern Africa, but the foundation of the Kingdom of Mutapa by the Zimbabwean prince Nyatsimba Mutota in 1430 led to the decline of Zimbabwe. By 1450, Great Zimbabwe and most of the kingdom had been abandoned as Mutapa eclipsed Zimbabwe in power, and the kingdom came to an end.